Storage apparatus



H. R. BENSON STORAGE APPARATUS Filefii April 22, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HAROLD R. BENSON Nov. 29, 1960 H. R. BENSON STORAGE APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 22, 1958 INVENTOR.

HAROLD R. BENSON BY 144072, g/m fil fa% *m and ATTORNEYS United States Patent STORAGE APPARATUS Harold R. Benson, Lombard, Ill., assignor to nuArc Co., Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Apr. 22, 1958, Ser. No. 730,204

2 Claims. (Cl. 312-184) The present invention relates to storage apparatus and it relates more particularly to a storage cabinet and associated elements suitable for storing printing plates and the like.

Printing plates, either positive or negative, and stencils are often used a number of times and must be stored for long periods of time between such uses. The period of storage will, of course, vary with the material on the plates or stencils, but it is not unusual for such plates to be stored for as long as six months or a year, and it is important not only to store the plates in such a manner as to prevent damage thereto, but it is also important to store them so that they may be readily found and identified when needed.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide new and improved apparatus for filing printing plates or the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved system for use in filing printing plates and stencils. Y

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved filing card.

Very briefly, the above and further objects are realized in accordance with the present invention by providing filing apparatus which comprises a cabinet and a bar extending across the top of the cabinet and from which the plates or stencils to be filed and stored may be hung. A plurality of books are semi-permanently secured in respective ones of a plurality of indexing apertures in the bar, and each includes offset hook means for insertion through one of a plurality of apertures in the top of a record or file card which has an adhesive coated bottom portion adapted to be facilely attached to the plates to be stored. The adhesive coated portion of the card is secured to the remainder of the card by means of a perforated portion including a line of perforations so that the upper part of the card may be readily removed from the lower part when the plate or stencil is discarded. The upper part of each card includes space for recording information indicative of the contents of the plate or stencil which is attached thereto, and when a plate or stencil is discarded and the top part ofthe card is removed, it may be filed for future reference to indicate that such a plate or stencil had existed and was discarded on a particular date.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following .description proceeds, and'the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the filing apparatus of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view, partly broken away, showing a photographic plate or stencil to which a record card has been attached for identifying a plate and for supporting the plate or stencil in the cabinet;

Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2 and showing the manner in which a file card is secured to a printing plate or stencil;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the record portion of the cards of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a greatly enlarged view of the upper lefthand portion of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a hanger member used in the apparatus of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of the device of Fig. 5 taken along the line 7-7 thereof;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 showing the manner in which the hangers of the present invention are mounted; and

which an irregular photographic plate or stencil may be supported in the storage cabinet of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Fig.- 1, there is shown a generally rectangularly shaped storage cabinet 10 which comprises a base member 11, a pair of upright end walls 12 and 13, a rear wall 14, and a removable cover 15. A bar 16 which, as best shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, is an inverted channel member, comprises a pair of depending side flanges 17 and 18 and is supported by the end walls 12 and 13 near the top thereof. A plurality of apertures 19 are provided in the forwardflange 18 and extend in two offset rows throughout the length of the bar 16. In order to facilitate the use of the rod 16, the apertures 19 are identified by suitable indicia, such, for example, as numbers respectively disposed on the exposed surface of the flange 18 opposite; the apertures 19. For example, where, as in the cabinet shown in Fig. 1, one hundred apertures are provided, theapertures are numbered, as partially indicated in Fig. 5,- one through one hundred.

Referring to Fig. 5, the ends of the bar 16 are supported on top of a pair of channels 22, only one of whichis shown in Fig. 5, which are welded to the side walls 12 and 13. The channels 22 terminate at a sufficientdistance below a top member 20, which is permanently secured to the walls 12, 13 and 14, so as'to permit facile removal of the bar 16 from the cabinet 10. The flanges- 17 and 18 are notched at the ends thereof to provideshoulders 23 against which the webs of the channels 22 abut thereby to prevent axial play of the rod 16 in the cabinet 10. The channels 22 are substantially wider than the bar 16 to permit front and rear adjustment of the bar 16 in the cabinet 10, and a notch 24 is cut in each" the hangers 30 from the cabinet 10 during normal use thereof. Considered in greater detail, and as best shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, the upper end of each of the hangers 30 is an open loop formed by a circular opening 31.- which is displacedfrom the'principal' longitudinal axis of the hanger and which is connected to the periphery of the hanger 30 by means of a narrow slot 32. As best shown in Fig. 8, the Width of the slot 32 is slightly greater than the width of the depending flange 18 so that the hangers 30 may be secured to the bar 16 by rotating them to the position shown in Fig. 8 whereby the slot 32 is directly opposite the flange 18. The hanger 30 may then be moved up so that the portion of the flange 18 beneath the respective aperture 19 moves into the aperture 31. When the notch 32 is within the aper- Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 7 showing the way in ture 19, the hanger 30 is rotated counterclockwise, as viewed in Fig. 8, thereby to secure the hanger to the rod 16. The hangers 30 may, when necessary, be removed from the bar' 16 by a reversal of the above process, but since the slots 32 are only slightly wider than the thickness of the flange 18; during normal use of the storage cabinet spurious or inadvertent removal of the hangers" 30 does, not occur.

Each hanger 30 is provided with a punched-out tongue 34 which extends in an upward direction and provides a hook or upwardly directed open loop on which a file card 38, as best shown in Fig. 2, may be hung. The card 38 is provided with anupper part 39 and a lower part 40, which parts. are interconnected along a line of perforations 41. A suitable member 42 having a pressure sensitive adhesive coating on the: opposite faces thereof is secured to oneface. of the lower part 40 for securing a printing plate or stencil or the like to the card 38. The upper part 39 includes. a relatively large surface area of suitable characteristic to permit the writing thereon of information indicative of the contents of the associated: plate or stencil, such as, for example, the date it was made and what it was used for. Suitable markings 43' may beprovided on the card 38to facilitate the writing of this; information thereon.

As shown, a printing plate or stencil 44 may be secured to the card 38 by means of the adhesive on the member 42 and thus hung from the bar 16 in spaced apart relationship with respect to other plates similarly supported in the cabinet 10. An aperture 46 is provided in the center of the card 38 along the perforated portion 41 thereof to facilitate alignment of the center of the card 38 with a suitable center mark on the plate 44, such as,

for example, an aperture 47. A plurality of apertures.

axis which intersects the center of gravity thereof, the

central one of the apertures 48 is used, as shown in Fig. 7, to attach the card 38 to the associated hanger 30. If, however, the card 38 is not aligned with the center of gravity of the plate 44, in order to insure that the plate 44 hangs vertically within the cabinet with the side edges of the plate along the vertical, the appropriate one of the others of the apertures 48' should be used, as shown in Fig. 9, for attaching the card 38 to the associated hanger 30.

Consider now the manner in which the storage and filing cabinet 10 of the present invention may be best used to store printing plates or stencils and the like. Whenthe plates or stencils have been used and may be again used atsome later time, a file card 38 is selected and information pertinent to the contents of the associated'plate or stencil 44 is inscribed on the upper part 39. The adhesive member 42 is then made ready for securing the card 38 to the plates or stencil by, for example, the removal of a thin piece of paper, plastic or the like (not shown) from the outer adhesive surface thereof. The adhesive member 42 is then pressed against the upper portion of the 'plate or stencil as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and preferably the hole 46 is aligned with the vertical center line of the printing plate or stencil 44. The card 38 which is thus secured to the plate or stencil 44'is then hung on one of the hangers 30. The number which appears on the bar 16 adjacent the aperture on which the selected hanger is secured is then recorded in a suitable record book to indicate where this particular plate or stencil 44 is stored. A large number of plates or stencils may thus be hung in the cabinet 10 and, as described above, they are separated from one another to prevent scratching or other damage thereto. When it is desired at some later time to use the plate or stencil again, reference is made to the record book to ascertain in which cabinet and on which hanger it is hung. It is then removed and used. When the plate or stencil is to be discarded, the upper part 39 of the card 38, best shown in Fig. 4, is torn from the lower part 40 along the perforations 41 and the upper part is filed indicating that the associated plate or stencil was destroyed. If desired, the date on which it was destroyed and any other pertinent information may be written on the portion 39 of the card 38 which is filed.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not limitedthereto, since many modifications may be made, and it is, therefore, contemplated by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall withinthe true spirit and scope of the invention.

a What is claimed as new and desired to. be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Storage apparatus for filing printing plates or stencils or thelike, comprising a cabinet, a bar supported in said cabinet in a horizontal plane displaced. a substantial distance from the bottom of said cabinet, said bar being provided with a plurality of spatially arranged apertures, a plurality of dissimilar means respectively disposed on said bar adjacent to said apertures for facilitating the distinguishing ofsaid-apertures from one another, a plurality of hangers, said hangers each having open loops at the tops and bottoms thereof, said loops being disposed in relatively perpendicular planes, the upper ones of said loops extending through respective ones of. said apertures thereby to secure said hangers to said bar, a plurality of file cards, each of said cardshaving a plurality of apertures arranged along the top thereof, one ofsaidopenings on each of said cards engaging the open bottomloop on a corresponding one of said hangers, an adhesive on the lower part of said card, a perforated portion interconnectingsaid lower part with the remainder of said card, and the remainder of said card being sufficiently large and having a suitable surface for the writing thereon of information pertinent to a plate attached to the respective card by the adhesive on the lower part thereof.

2. Storage apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bar includes a depending flange in which said apertures are disposed and the upper ones of the loops in said hangers are openby an amount which is only slightly widerthan the thickness of said flange and the widths of said loops exceed the minimum distance between said apertures and the marginal edge of said flange; whereby said hangers may be semi-permanently secured to said bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

